Individuals who smoke or eat while driving or sitting within vehicles often have debris such as food or lighted tobacco products, drop onto their clothing or vehicle seat. Such debris usually fall upon the seated person's lap, soiling their garments; burning tobacco from cigarettes, cigars or pipes in addition to ruining clothing or a vehicle seat cover, may injure the user.
Drivers who smoke or eat while driving tend to jeopardize safe vehicle operation since part of their concentration that would otherwise be completely devoted to assure safe driving is focussed upon the food or tobacco being consumed. If burning tobacco or hot food or liquid fall upon the driver's lap, the driver must immediately direct his attention to the problem and temporarily disregard surrounding traffic and driving conditions, often with tragic consequences.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a fire resistant lap protection blanket for covering the lap of a seated driver or passenger to prevent burning or soiling of garments or of the vehicle seat by falling food or lighted tobacco products.
Another object of the invention is to provide a protection blanket that protects the user from burns caused by lighted tobacco and prevents heat from being transmitted to the user's body.
Still another object is to provide a protection blanket that can safely retain debris dropping thereon to prevent the debris from damaging the user's garments or vehicle interior.
A further object is to provide a blanket that can be rolled or folded for easy and compact storage within the vehicle cabin.
Yet another object is to provide a blanket that can be anchored to the vehicle adjacent the user to prevent its loss and retain the blanket in position across the user's lap.
Still another object is to provide a blanket that is light weight for comfort and decorative.
A further object is to provide a blanket that is retained within a vehicle during use, yet easily removed for cleaning.